16 Macabre Cultural Festivals in History that Make Halloween Look Like Child’s Play

8. Europe – Walpurgis Night

The activities of Walpurgis Night, known in German as Sankt Walpurgisnacht or “Saint Walpurgis Night” were undertaken to drive misfortune and witchcraft away from communities. Saint Walpurga was a medieval French abbess who was sainted after her bones reportedly began to exude a miraculous oil that healed grave wounds and sickness. This discovery led to her being hailed as a saint who could drive away pestilence, rabies, and other diseases in addition to witchcraft, which was often viewed as a source of illness at the time.

While Walpurga’s saint day is in February, Walpurgis Night is celebrated on the eve of May Day throughout Germanic Europe due to the date of her canonization and the movement of her bones to their final resting place. What makes Walpurgis Night eerie is the practice of lighting massive bonfires to drive away witches.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the belief spread that witches gathered on the eve of May Day to celebrate a Hexenacht or “magic night.” The Catholic Church decreed that Walpurgis Night would be practiced to counteract this evil, with bonfires being lit throughout the European countryside to fend off witches and evil spirits. Given how many “witches” were burned in Germany during this period, the idea of an entire holiday devoted to fighting witches with bonfires is rather ominous.